Are there a better ways to spend $24m?

The construction of a $24m railway overpass 12 kilometres south of Alice Springs will start next month.

NT Senator Nigel Scullion says in a media release the Stuart Highway project will involve replacing an existing level crossing with a new 40 metre bridge over the rail line, connected with 700 metre approaches either side along the existing road.

He says a detour will be built to allow “smoother” traffic flow and minimise delays during construction.

“This upgrade has been desperately needed in the community for years and is a great example of our commitment to funding projects that address the real needs of people in the Northern Territory,” says Senator Scullion.

“Across the Territory, the Australian Government has allocated $594 million towards major infrastructure projects, including a $77 million roads package to help boost Territory jobs and growth.”

Works on the Stuart Highway rail overpass are expected to be completed in April 2015.

The Alice Springs News Online invites readers to express their views on this project in the comment box below: Is it needed? Are there more urgent things the money should be spent on?

19 Comments (starting with the most recent)

NB: If you want to reply to a previous comment, start your comment with this notation: @n where n is the number of the comment you want to reply to.

Bronte Zadow

Posted September 7, 2014 at 11:56 am

I have gone and had a nother look at the new overpass for I thought l was too critical but I was not. The intersection to town and airport needs to be upgraded, it is poor and the road into town needs to be a double lane highway.

$24 million would upgrade most of the Pinnacles Road from the Plenty to Arltunga developing a new approach to Alice and a brand new tourism province.
Where are these people at? And who had the bright idea of developing the 10 km of the old Andado road the other side of Alambi?
How many millions? In the three days I was on that road recently I saw three cars!
And the overpass near Mclaren vale in SA cost $18m just for the ground works. What is the cost of a barrel of pork?

This overpass is being built for obscure economic reasons as there was no public consultation seeking input.
Why has there been no public debate? What is the decision based on?
It can’t be safety or the convenience of Alice residents. Put the overpass in town where it will be of some use or don’t build it at all.

$24m?! And the spin doctors “selling” us the AZRI subdivision told us that a four lane flyover through Heavitree Gap was costed (I specifically asked) into the development costs and was only $10m!
Neither of two recent similar constructions (to the Heavitree Gap flyover) in Adelaide came in under $100m, and they didn’t have to accommodate import the expertise and highly specialised equipment all the way to Alice Springs.
Sucked in! Again!

Rumour has it that it was a requirement for some of the new mining companies coming to town. The story goes that the government had to remove the threat of train disruptions in order for the mines to commence works. More to every story than meets the eye maybe?

I agree the intersection in town should be a priority. Also let’s hope that a local engineer will be used instead of someone so out of touch that they build something like the Heavitree Gap crossing – total waste of our money! Surely that can’t ever happen again!

Complete incompetence. Yes, why dont they do something about the level crossings in town where many times there is a wait for 50 or 60 carriages to go through and no way out of the queue.
What happens if an emergency arises and services like police, fire and ambulances are delayed because of the length of the train and the fact that the train crawls through at a very low speed due to the station being nearby.
Once in the queue their is often very little chance of getting out of it. This is a perfect example of money being wasted. They may have just as well just set fire to the money as do what they are doing.

There are many spots around town that are way more hazardous i.e. the intersection near Maccas. I’m certain the $24m could be better spent on preventing accidents in town where the risks are far greater.

This is a total waste of money for the amount of trains that we get in this town. All the whingers who can’t wait five minutes for the train to pass should move elsewhere. Our schools or health service could do with this money.

A similar crossing further south was long ago replaced with a similar bridge.
Railway crossings are known dangers with significant risks and histories of disaster.
Whilst other projects may be more important to some, reducing preventable dangers remains important, and a worthy investment.